XJ-S questions V12 or 6 man or auto
Discussion
Hello..
I fancy getting myself an XJ-S as it has to be one of the most beutifull cars anyone has ever made (i seem to remeber an interview with Pininfarina some years back in which even he admired its beuty) and whilst they are as chronically undervalued and priced as they are right now it seems daft not to indulge.
The tricky desion is which one.....
The convertible is ruled out straight away for being to pricey for a fourth car..
As is the 3.6 auto for being to much of a cop-out, and the V12 manual for being far far far to rare.
So the real decsion is between the V12 HE Auto because it is the ultimate incarnation and the 3.6 or 4.0 manual as it has a more sporty feeling to it (and a nice bonnet bulge)
I suspect that the 6 pot would be far cheaper to run, however as this car is going to be used very rarely this is hardly an issue.
What I really want to know is which is the better car in the real world?
Do we have any owners out there?? as try as i might i cant seem to meet any in real life!!!
I fancy getting myself an XJ-S as it has to be one of the most beutifull cars anyone has ever made (i seem to remeber an interview with Pininfarina some years back in which even he admired its beuty) and whilst they are as chronically undervalued and priced as they are right now it seems daft not to indulge.
The tricky desion is which one.....
The convertible is ruled out straight away for being to pricey for a fourth car..
As is the 3.6 auto for being to much of a cop-out, and the V12 manual for being far far far to rare.
So the real decsion is between the V12 HE Auto because it is the ultimate incarnation and the 3.6 or 4.0 manual as it has a more sporty feeling to it (and a nice bonnet bulge)
I suspect that the 6 pot would be far cheaper to run, however as this car is going to be used very rarely this is hardly an issue.
What I really want to know is which is the better car in the real world?
Do we have any owners out there?? as try as i might i cant seem to meet any in real life!!!
I used to work on XJS, used to drive a lot of them as part of the job.
When the 6.0 came into production it had a GM 4 speed gearbox which gave the car performance with relative economy.
Given the choice of a 6.0 or 4.0 manual it's a close call in terms of a lap time but I'd probably try to get a 6.0 litre.
If it was a 5.3 or 4.0 manual I'd go for the 4.0 manual.
If the car was built in 1992 or later they tend to have far better corrosion protection and a lot of work went into making the car quieter.
When the 6.0 came into production it had a GM 4 speed gearbox which gave the car performance with relative economy.
Given the choice of a 6.0 or 4.0 manual it's a close call in terms of a lap time but I'd probably try to get a 6.0 litre.
If it was a 5.3 or 4.0 manual I'd go for the 4.0 manual.
If the car was built in 1992 or later they tend to have far better corrosion protection and a lot of work went into making the car quieter.
I'd recommend you buy mine. 
It's a 6.0L V12 XJR-S Automatic 1993 galvanised and only two owners from new.
It really is awsome.
Being the R it has all the uprated jaguar Sport bits (engine and suspecsion components), uniqe styling tweaks but still retains all of the comfort.
I've never driven an XJS manual but my mechannic (a Jag specialist) said he'd rather walk to the moon and back than drive an XJS with a manual box. Very heavy clutch apparently.
I am, of course, biased. And please excuse the shameless plug.
It's a 6.0L V12 XJR-S Automatic 1993 galvanised and only two owners from new.
It really is awsome.
Being the R it has all the uprated jaguar Sport bits (engine and suspecsion components), uniqe styling tweaks but still retains all of the comfort.
I've never driven an XJS manual but my mechannic (a Jag specialist) said he'd rather walk to the moon and back than drive an XJS with a manual box. Very heavy clutch apparently.
I am, of course, biased. And please excuse the shameless plug.
If you are interested, my XJS V12 goes into the garage to have a geartrac manual fitted in the next few weeks.
cost including service and some other bits and pieces will come to around £4k ..
I took the "loaner" car for a spin, wow its one hell of a difference .... and there has to be significant economy savings too ... will do 80 at 2,300 RPM in 5th ..... (according to dials, but was significantly less stressed)
Will probably post my conclusions here if anyone is interested once the job has been done and i have put a few miles through the thing!!!
cost including service and some other bits and pieces will come to around £4k ..
I took the "loaner" car for a spin, wow its one hell of a difference .... and there has to be significant economy savings too ... will do 80 at 2,300 RPM in 5th ..... (according to dials, but was significantly less stressed)
Will probably post my conclusions here if anyone is interested once the job has been done and i have put a few miles through the thing!!!
Well I can only comment on the 4.0 manual.
Good bits:
You don't have to change if you don't want to! There is enough torque to make lots of changes unnecessary. You can often pull away in second quite happily and if the fancy takes you: change into fourth. You can pop it into fifth at very low speeds and it’ll pull well enough from less than 1,500 revs. I enjoy pulling away and then letting the revs rise a decent amount, and then flooring it for a lovely push in the back at 4,000 revs in 2nd or 3rd. Nice. You can’t really beat a manual for the involvement. The rest of an XJS isn’t particularly ‘involved’ as the steering is light and the noise fairly subtle. A manual helps put back some ‘feel’, if that is your bag. Most owners went for the automatic because it matches the rest of the car better in intent.
Bad bits:
The clutch is fairly heavy, which you don't notice as you bowl through the countryside, but around town in stop-start traffic it is noticeable. I tend to take her out of gear if I am stationary for any time. The gear change isn't the shortest and sweetest, if you're used to a short-throw sporty one then it is a bit disappointing at first. The previous owner said there were no replacement parts for the Getrag gearbox, not sure if this is true or what bits he meant though. More self restraint is required, this could be a plus point of course, but if you aren’t careful serious damage is done to the fuel consumption as you ‘forget’ to change up.
Good bits:
You don't have to change if you don't want to! There is enough torque to make lots of changes unnecessary. You can often pull away in second quite happily and if the fancy takes you: change into fourth. You can pop it into fifth at very low speeds and it’ll pull well enough from less than 1,500 revs. I enjoy pulling away and then letting the revs rise a decent amount, and then flooring it for a lovely push in the back at 4,000 revs in 2nd or 3rd. Nice. You can’t really beat a manual for the involvement. The rest of an XJS isn’t particularly ‘involved’ as the steering is light and the noise fairly subtle. A manual helps put back some ‘feel’, if that is your bag. Most owners went for the automatic because it matches the rest of the car better in intent.
Bad bits:
The clutch is fairly heavy, which you don't notice as you bowl through the countryside, but around town in stop-start traffic it is noticeable. I tend to take her out of gear if I am stationary for any time. The gear change isn't the shortest and sweetest, if you're used to a short-throw sporty one then it is a bit disappointing at first. The previous owner said there were no replacement parts for the Getrag gearbox, not sure if this is true or what bits he meant though. More self restraint is required, this could be a plus point of course, but if you aren’t careful serious damage is done to the fuel consumption as you ‘forget’ to change up.
Previously owned a late 6.0 V12 - absolutely awesome. Launches towards the horizon as if its tied to a giant bungee - an effortlessly powerful torquey car. Handles very nicely when pressing on. All in all a very special car. Have owned lesser versions which were OK but slightly dull. Before the XJS I drove porsche 928 and BMW E34 M5 - the 6.0 jag was every bit as good. This has made me want to buy another one!!
10mpg said:
So it looks like the goalposts have been moved ....
It now appears to be between a 4.0 man and 6.0 auto
If i am going to spens serious money maybe I should consider the convertible...
I looked at buying a convertable XJS about 10 years ago, I found that the run out "Celebration" models were considerably more rigid that the earlier convertables. Almost all of these were 4L ones, but the dealer at the time said they could hold of V12s if asked.
Good hunting.
Ken
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